Temporary Residence Permit in Lithuania to Be Issued While Being Abroad – There Is No Longer Need for Coming to Lithuania

From the beginning of 2023, a new service will come into force together with amendments to the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners, namely, an issue of temporary residence permits in Lithuania through an external service provider.

The Migration Department has chosen VFS Global bureaus as the provider of such service,  through which documents regarding visas were also submitted until now.

The following amendment to Article 28 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners concerning the issue, change and revocation of the residence permit has been adopted:

A foreigner who is staying outside the Republic of Lithuania shall lodge an application for the issue of a temporary residence permit in Lithuania through the external service provider selected by the Migration Department. A foreigner who is legally staying in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania shall submit an application for the issue of a residence permit with the Migration Department, however, the lodging of such an application shall not entitle the foreigner to stay in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania pending the examination of the foreigner’s application and a taking of a decision thereon.

Foreigners will be able to submit applications for temporary residence permits in Lithuania in 34 different foreign countries, where such bureaus will be open. The Migration Department also provides a list of such countries: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Sakartvel, India, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Moldova, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Republic of South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uzbekistan, Venezuela.

VFS Global bureaus in the specified countries will be authorized to accept from persons their applications for temporary residence permits and documents which are mandatory to be submitted herewith. Moreover, individuals will have an opportunity to provide their biometric data which will be transferred to the specialists at the Migration Department who take decisions thereon.

It should be noted that the documents submitted together with an application and procedure for legalization thereof remains the same.

The estimated terms of examination of the applications lodged while staying abroad and decision-making thereof - 1-3 months.

When submitting an application, a foreigner will be able to choose where he/she will collect the produced residence permit card. After the decision is taken to issue a temporary residence permit, the produced card will be able to be sent abroad, so that the foreigner could arrive in Lithuania with an already valid temporary residence permit. Thereby, foreigners will not have to additionally apply for visa. Nevertheless, it will take extra time to send a document abroad and a time during which the external service provider contacts the foreigner in order to hand over a document to him/her.

Those foreigners who need no visas to arrive in Lithuania (either having a valid visa, or enjoying a visa-free regime) will be able to order a temporary residence permit card while being abroad and collect it in Lithuania, provided there is a need to come earlier.  

It is worth mentioning that foreigners will be able to apply to VFS Global bureaus regardless of the fact whether they reside in that country.

The Migration Department has clarified that, as long as the state of emergency applies, national visas D shall not be issued to citizens of Russia and Belarus who are staying abroad. Besides, citizens of such countries will not be able to lodge applications for the issue of temporary residence permits through an external service provider.

MIGRATION LAW CENTER